Apparatus for producing oxygen and hydrogen.



' Patented luly 18, I899;

P. GARUTI a 1i. yommu. APPARATUS F08 PRODUCING UXYGEN AND HYDROGEN.

(Application filed Due. 15, 1006.

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I Patented July rs, 2399. B. GARUTI & n. POMPILI. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN.

(Application filed Dec. 15, 1896.1

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PoMPEo GARUTI AND 'nIocAnDo POMPILI, or NAPLES, ITALY.

APPARATUS Foe PRODUCING-OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 629,070, dated July 18, 1899.

Application filed December 15, 1896, Serial No- 615,'l83. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that we, PoMrEo GARUTI, professor, and RICCARDO .POMPILI, proprietor, subjects of the King of Italy, residing at Naples, in the Kingdom of Italy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apv I apparatus for producing oxygen and hydrogen by means of electrolysis,'and especially to improvements upon Letters Patent No. 534,259, dated February 19, 1895; and the object of this invention is to introduce a new and useful improvement and apparatus of this character for the production of oxygen and hydrogen by means of electrolysisand the same consists, essentially, iu'the use ofperforated metallic diaphragms, and by this'means one obtains the perfect separation of the gases and the resistance to thepassage of the current is diminished, which forms a very essential feature in the process and apparatus, and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction arrange.- ment, and combination of parts hereinafter described in the specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through the center of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of one end of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the apparains. Fig. 4 is a'plan view of the conductors and electrodes. Fig. 5 is a detail of construc-' tion. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section of Fig.6. Fig. 7 is a front view of a fork which I employ and also a longitudinal section thereof, and Fig. 8 a transverse section of Fig. 7 on the line 2 2. Fig, 9 is a detail of a perforated diaphragm.

In the drawings forming part of this specification the separate parts of our improvement are designated by the same letters of reference in eachof the views, and in the practice of our invention-we employ a tank A ,of Wood or other material,-lined internally with an iron plate a and in which is placed the electrolyzing apparatus, immersed in the liquid The electrolyzing apparatus to be electrolyzed. The tank is insulated from the ground by insulators M.

The electrolyzing apparatus consists of a case A turned upside-down, which by means of longitudinal diaphragms is divided internally into cells E. This case is made of iron, steel, or other metal and is open only at the bottom, so as to permit the water to enter in the cells. The anodes b and the cathodes c are placed one in each cell alternately, taking 'care that each anode isbetween two cathodes,the gas passing through an opening made at the upper part of the said'chambers into the cells that contain the same gas. The electrodes are insulated from the diaphragms n by combs I, made of wood or other non-conducting material, the teeth of which enter in the cells and fill out the spaces between the electrodes andthe diaphragms and prevent them from coming into contact one with the other. The combs are fastened to longitudinal beams lying on the bottom of the tank and are cutout at the joints of theteeth, so as to allow free passage of the gases to the top of the cells E. Y

does not extend quite to the bottom of the tank, but rests upon transversal beams, as shown in the drawings, so that any sediment which the Water deposits does not interfere with the working of nor damage the apparatus.

To prevent the electrodes from touching the top of the cells, every electrode has atv two teeth T, between which the electrode 811-.

tors. The whole fork resting between two diaphragms occupies transversely the whole width of the cell, touching the top of the cell, and the tank is provided with handles L, by which it may be-lifted out. In this form of our invention the arrangement of diaphragms and of the cathodes and anodes prevents the mixing of the gases, which as they form pass the oxygen only in the" anode-cells and the hydrogen in the cathodes.

The cells E have openings F at the top, through which the gases escape and enter the chambers G, situated at the top of the apparatus. There are two chambers G. One serves to receive the oxygen and communicates with all the anode-cells, and the other receives the 2; r ezao'ro 7 hydrogen and com in unicat'es with thelcath od 9:

cells; On the chambers G are mounted small copper pipes g, which are "connected .to the distributing-pipes by means of the insulat 1 ing tubes h, madezof glass or porcelain;

tubes h, made of glass or'other insulating.

' material, are necessary in order to insulate J tlieelectrolytic apparatus in which the c.ur--: rent is to act and format the same'timean air-tight junction between the smallitubcs 9, through which passthegases from thecol looting-cells E and'the-outer conduit of the gases, by wl iichthey are conducted to the 'at'the' junction tubeh. r r Two icouductor-one positive, 13, and. one negative," fi rest. over the topof .thetanka gasofmeters or the like; T thetop'ofeach. chamberis soldered a receptacle Hofsulficientdiameter and height, which'forms a by-' draulic' closing, preventing the escape of gas. of. thesaid tube 9 with the J and extending downito the bottom ofthc ap- -paratus 'enterthrough chambers Dwithout a ig having elcotrical co'ntact therewith. "Arms 0 J 1 current enters. The. coupling 6 with which tlie conductors end-,is madeof copper inordcnto perfect the contact with the conductors of the dynamo, becauseif theyweremadeof-iron they would oxidate very easily, and thus pro-.-

- vent the contact. The chambers D serve to collect the gas that forms on the surface of the conductors. To use an alkaline electrolyte that is, drinking-water or rain-water--with twenty-five per cent. of soda or caustic potash. The said conductors are covered with caoutchouc up to the height of the chambers D, but could not be conveniently covered with the same material at the bottom part, where they divide themselves. These chambers D are consequently constructed in order to receive the gases which are produced by the electrolysis at the upper surface, so that in the chamber above the lower part of the conductor of the positive pole B is collected the oxygen and in the chamber placed above the lower part of the negative pole O the hydrogen. These gases are forced afterward by means of the hydraulic pressure of the electrolyte and special outlets in com munication with the respective cells in the collecting-chambers F, which already contain gases of the same nature. The insulating-coverin g of the conductors B should be limited to the height of the chamber D.

The water in the tank must be always level with the top of the chamber G, so as to give to the gases the requisite pressure.

The complete immersion of the apparatus permits quick detection of any contact be tween the electrodes and the diaphragms,such

The

"contact beingindicated by gas bubbies rising r I .:to the surface of the liquidiu the tank,

In an eleotrolyzing apparatus the extension oflthc. electrodes must be calculatedaccort 1 .ing to the intensity of the current.

- In the apparatus abovedescribedin order to obtaina perfect working the electrodemust be one-half square dosimeter elf-surface for each ampereof currentand must havea height notexceeding 0.14: meters.

Having thus described our electrolyzingapparatus, we describenowin-what the new 7 iSC' According; to the abovedescriptiontheme improvement introduced in the Same consists.

tallic diaphragmis uninterrupted and forms,

therefore, from the top. to thehottom; a coma :pletle divisiouof the cells and the. electrodes.

- Ne: modify the structure of the diaphragms by piercing in itslower part up to the height of 0.05 metersand throughoutthewhole length r ofthediaphragm smallholes of one millimeter ofdiameter, as s-hownin the drawi u gs. These. I

holesmust be as :nearas possible one to the 7 other without weakening too much theiron plate ofthe diaphragms n: The saidholes can be made a few centimeters abovethc bot- .fication, itisnecessary to know the scientific principle on which these apparatus are based. V Q

The diaphragms being ofmctal should act as, 10o,

secondar- 2 electrodesiybut ill order to do so it is necessary that the same. can be. polarized by induction, andthenwehave inour appa5- rratustwo distinct and. independent appara hrs in function, the oneformed by the elec';

trodes which communicates direct with the principal current and the other by the diaphragmswhich are perfectly insulated from the electrodes by means of the forks and the wooden combs. On the base of the electrochemical equivalents the necessary electromotive force for the decomposition of the water amounts to 1.5 volts and for two apparatus in series there would be necessary, theoretically, three volts. It is therefore clear that by keeping the current within the limits of three volts the electrolyte communicates with the anodes and with the cathodes by means of the openings at the bottom of the cells. The electrolysis produces itself only on the electrodes, while the diaphragms being insulated,and consequently not in direct communication with the current, remain neutral.

In order to obtain the greatest regularity and efficiency in the operation of our apparatus, the resistances are calculated so as to require only an electromotive force of about two volts, conveying into the same a current of one ampere for each half square decimeter of electrode-surface. When the electrolytic process of separation takes place between one electrode and'the other, this latter would have to pass under the impermeable metallic diaphragm placed between and this would naturally produce a loss of power. In order to avoid this inconvenience, make the electrodes very low, tors, as described in the specification, and make, further, a quantity of small holes in the lower part of the diaphragms, which establish a more direct communication between the electrodes in the electrolytic process of separation. As these holes have a diameter of not more than one millimeter and being made only up to the height of five centimeters in shows a part of the diaphragm n perforated by small holes, .as described above.

I-Iavingfnlly described our invention, We

not higher than fourteen centime-v claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent V In an apparatus for producing oxygen and hydrogen by means of the electrolysis of water, a tank divided in cells by means of longitudinal metallic diaphragms, the lower portion only of which is perforated, and anodes and cathodes in each of the cells formed by said diaphragms, said anodes and cathodes being suitably insulated, whereby the mixing of the gases is prevented as they pass, the oxygen being retained in the anode and the hydrogen in the cathode cells, said cells being provided with openings at the top through which the gas escapes, consisting of chambers which communicate with said cells, as

' and for the piirpose set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed the 28th day of October,.l896.

POMPEO GARUTI. ;RICGARD.O POMPILI.

Witnesses:

TACOPO I. BARBEDELTI, ,AU GUST EGGENSOHWILZ. 

